Night Terrors
by madwriter223
Summary: Little Mikey knows it's there. Right in the corner, waiting for him to fall asleep so it can eat him. He just knew it. He climbed out of his bed, and headed towards his brothers - they would surely help him. Oneshot, turtle-tots, aww-factor, slight humor.


**Night Terrors **

Little Mikey woke up with a small cry, shooting up into a sitting position on his bed. That dream had been real scary. Good thing it was over now.

But then he heard a sound, and he snapped his head to the side.

There, in the corner. A definite scratching sound. As if something hidden in the shadows was waiting for him to turn his back.

Mikey's little fingers tightened on the edge his blanket, pulling it higher over his plastron. He shivered as he kept his gaze on the corner and the odd sounds coming from it.

He blinked and his head hid halfway in his shell when he saw movement. _Something _was definitely moving there!!

Mikey gulped, then slid out of his bed, moving slowly to one of the three others. Grasping blindly, his hand met flesh and he shook the bed's occupant awake.

"Leo. Hey Leo." he called quietly, trying not to let the monster hear what he was saying.

His oldest brother murmured quietly, then turned to look at him. "Mikey? What's wrong?"

"There's a monster in the corner."

Leonardo blinked at him, then sighed. "Michelangelo, there is nothing there. You just had a bad dream."

"But-"

"It's late, so go to sleep." Leonardo said, then lay back down, turning his shell to the youngest terrapin.

Mikey felt tears welling up in his eyes at the obvious show of disregard, but another scratching sound caught his attention, and he shivered fearfully.

Slowly, he padded over to the next bed, and shook another of his brothers awake.

"Donny, hey Donny." he called, adding a pat to one shoulder for good measure.

A yawn caught his attention. "What is it?"

"There's a monster in the corner."

Donatello looked closely at his brother for a short moment. "Mikey, science has found no evidence whatsoever on the existence of monsters or any creature bearing any resemblance to such."

The youngest turtle felt his confusion rising with each of his brother's words. "Huh?"

"It means there is no such thing as monsters."

"But-"  
"Go back to bed, Mikey." Donny said, then closed his eyes and allowed sleep to claim him again.

This time, the tears fell from the little turtle's eyes, and he sniffled miserably. His two oldest brothers wouldn't believe him, and the monster was scratching yet again! It's as if it waited for the moment his brothers had closed their eyes to begin tormenting the youngest again.

With a shiver, Mikey moved to his last brother. He did not reach out to wake this one though. He wouldn't believe him anyway.

A sob escaped him, and Mikey closed his eyes, curling his arms protectively over his plastron as he cried.

Why wouldn't the monster leave him alone?!

A sleepy murmur followed one of his sobs, and Mikey opened his eyes, his gaze meeting his immediate older brother's.

"Mikey? Yah had a bad dream?" Raph asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

The youngest hung his head sadly. This brother was sure to yell at him for waking him up. Still, he found himself answering.

"There's a monster in the corner."

"There is?" the question was asked with sleepy curiosity, and Mikey felt his hopes rising full blast.

He nodded.

Raphie looked at him for a moment, then stretched with a grunt. "In which one?"

Mikey pointed at the monster, watching as Raph slid out of bed. "Do you see it?" he asked, hoping for a positive answer. That would mean his brother would make the monster go away.

Raphie yawned as he started walking towards the indicated spot. "Does it matter?" he asked over his shoulder.

The older turtle stopped before the corner and for a moment simply stared into the shadow there. Then:

"So you're the one scaring my little bro?" Raph asked in his best intimidating tone, his voice rising the longer he talked. "What the heck's the matter with yah?! Yah don't have anythin' better t'do then creepin' around someone's corners like a damn bug and scarin' my brother? Go away, yah stupid bully, before I get real pissed and get my sais, yah stinkin' coward!!"

"What's wrong with you?!" Leonardo asked angrily from his bed, glaring at his second youngest brother. Donatello was also sitting on his bed now, his curious gaze on the younger turtle.

Raph half turned, his scowling eyes on his oldest brother. "Shut up, Leo." he turned back to the corner. "See? There's four of us here, that means there's more of us. So beat it before we pound your ass in!!"

"Raphael! What is going on here?" yet another voice called in the dark room, a single candle lightening a familiar face.

"Master Splinter!" Leonardo turned to face his father, guilt at not being able to control one of his brothers all over his face. Donatello on the other hand took one look at his father's form and groaned at the added disturbance, plopping down on his bed and curling his pillow around his head.

"Could one of you please explain to me why Raphael is yelling at a corner?" the aged rat asked, glancing over his sons.

The said turtle ignored them all, and turned to his younger brother. "He gone?"

Mikey nodded vigorously, a big grin plastered all over his face. "Yup!" he said happily, bouncing on the souls of his feet.

"Good." Raph threw one last glare at the shadow, then moved back to his bed. "I'm goin' t'sleep. Night Sensei." And without further ado, he climbed under his covers and closed his eyes.

Splinter blinked at his third oldest, then turned to his youngest son. "Michelangelo?"

"There was a monster in the corner, and Leo an' Donny didn't believe me, so Raphie got mad and yelled at it to make it go away." Amazing how long a sentence a child can say in only one breath.

Splinter nodded, slowly understanding this night's commotion, then crouched before his son. "Would you like to sleep with Father tonight, in case the 'monster' comes back?" he asked softly, knowing how easily frightened his youngest was at night.

Mikey shook his head. "Nah. Raphie scared him good, I don't think he'll be back." the turtle-tot smiled brightly at his brother's form, then moved to his own bed. "G'night, Sensei."

"Very well, then." Splinter let out a breath, standing straight. "Good night, my sons."

Four sleepy voices answered him, but he waited a few more minutes to make sure his sons were asleep.

He moved on silent feet to the corner Raphael was standing at, and allowed the candle light to illuminate it. There was indeed nothing there.

That meant one of two things. Either there was nothing there in the first place or he had a very loyal warrior growing under his wing who was already scaring away the frights of the night. He hoped he would manage to raise him properly.

Now, if only he could manage to have them all sleep through the entire night...


End file.
